Aggies chancellor requests $38 million from local governments

Updated 1:55 pm, Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Texas A&M hits the field for its Southeastern Conference debut against Florida on Sept. 8.

Texas A&M hits the field for its Southeastern Conference debut against Florida on Sept. 8.

Photo: Nick De La Torre, Houston Chronicle

Aggies chancellor requests $38 million from local governments

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COLLEGE STATION — The planned renovation or rebuilding of Texas A&M's Kyle Field, anticipated to begin following the 2013 season, took a strange turn this week.

A&M chancellor John Sharp called a meeting of College Station, Bryan and Brazos County officials on Monday and requested $38 million toward Kyle's reconstruction, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Sharp also told the startled group a decision had already been made regarding Kyle: a renovation would cost around $450 million and the new configuration would seat 103,000, according to one insider.

Another insider said A&M president R. Bowen Loftin, who's supposed to make a recommendation to A&M regents concerning Kyle Field later this fall, wasn't aware of Sharp's meeting until after it had concluded. The insider said Sharp was most likely simply trying to gauge the reaction of nine local leaders with the gathering, and that nothing has been decided on the Kyle Field front — including whether the Aggies might play away from Kyle for the 2014 season while a demolition and rebuilding takes place.

Such a threat to the Aggieland economy — football games typically draw between 80,000-90,000 fans to Kyle on a given Saturday — apparently prompted Sharp's appeal from local leaders for financial help.

“It is important to reiterate that no decisions have been made as to whether the Aggies will play a season away from Kyle Field, and we continue to hope that this will be an unlikely option,” Loftin said in a statement Tuesday.

A study funded by the Bryan-College Station visitors bureau and chamber of commerce claimed that Brazos County business owners would lose $86 million if the Aggies were to move for a season, along with 955 area jobs.

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Adam Sacks of Oxford Economics, which conducted the study, said one respondent to a survey claimed “this would be our Hurricane Katrina and oil spill all in one” if the games were to move away for a season or two. Sacks also dubbed the potential moving of games “a self-induced recession” on several occasions during a news conference Tuesday in a College Station hotel.

A&M has hired the architectural firm Populous to design the renovated or rebuilt stadium, and Aggies football coach Kevin Sumlin said Tuesday he offered one primary input into the new venue.

“To make the impossible possible,” he said, “and make Kyle Field louder than it already is.”

Sharp said Wednesday morning that the meeting was "no secret" and that Loftin knew about it and had encouraged the gathering, even if he had not been invited.

"We're all on the same page," Sharp said.

Sharp also said he didn't announce that a decision had been made, only that he recommended a 103,500-seat stadium when asked his preference. Asked how he arrived at the $38 million number if no decision had been made concerning costs and size, he said "something in that range would work" from the local governments.